The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria has announced its intention to collaborate with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, to further deepen the Nigerian capital market’s operations through investment training programmes.
The Director General of the commission, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, expressed this desire when the Vice Chancellor of the tertiary institution, Prof Kabiru Bala, led other top management of the University on a courtesy visit to the management of the Commission on Friday in Abuja.
The Director General said that the Commission was currently carrying out a number of initiatives, which would appeal to the youth and attract them to the capital market.
Yuguda said: “Today, people like things they can do on their phones/tablets and that is why we are embracing technology in the capital market. Fintechs are attracting young people to do investments with their phones meanwhile the market still relies on paper documentation.
“This is really something of the past as we are committed to ensuring that our markets are technology driven. Technology is the way to go and it is the way to really engage people. Once the youths buy an idea, it goes far and wide”, he added.
Yuguda lamented the high level of unclaimed dividends in the capital market and enjoined investors to mandate their accounts for e-dividend in a bid to reduce the quantum.
He explained: “So many investors have shares in the capital market and have abandoned them. People have not come forward to claim their dividends and this has led to huge unclaimed dividends and has increased the unclaimed dividends profile.
“The Commission has over time been educating and enlightening the public on how they can get their dividends. Now they do not need to wait for the broker to send the dividend warrants through the registrars. The dividends can actually come to them directly into their bank accounts through e-dividend payments.
“We will arrange investor clinics to ABU to talk about issues in the capital market and encourage the staff and students to key in. ABU is reputed for giving the very best in tertiary education and some of us are proud graduates of the university”, the Director General added.
Earlier in his remarks, the Vice Chancellor described the visit as part of the advancement of the university to keep in contact with their alumni as is done in most global universities.
He also solicited the collaboration of the SEC to enable undergraduates of the institution do their internship with the Commission for specified period in a bid to understand in details the workings of the capital market and increase their employability potential.
Bala said: “We are putting a lot of premium on these kind of relationship to ensure that students can conduct research that would also be useful to the capital market. We are working towards reviving our endowment fund in a bid to bringing sustainable development to the university and enhance revenue generation.”
The university don also urged alumni of universities and institutions in the country to collaborate with their managements to assist such institutions where necessary, adding that “many institutions are grappling with issues of funding and these alumni can come in to assist. This will drastically reduce the incidences of industrial action by the staff.”
